HIIT It!

I've already spoken a bit about HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) but its hard to explain, however there are a lot of resources on the net. Its almost easier to see it rather than explain it in words, I think this graph of the Body for Life HIIT routine gives you a better idea
As you can see its a short routine, just 20 minutes including warm up and cool down, the interesting thing about it is the left hand scale, the intensity level, as I mentioned before the person exercising governs their intensity level, it is not a resistance setting on a machine or a speed it can be both those things or neither, its is purely a way of putting a number to how hard you are working. for me a 5 is an effort akin to walking briskly, this gives me a chance to warm up, a 6 increases my heart rate and I know I'm working, a 7 is a little harder work, an 8 and I am starting to breath heavily, a 9 is pushing hard, a 10 is all out and a pace I know I won't be able to sustain for more than a minute.

During the BfL HIIT you only hit a 10 once, right at the end of your routine and a 5 is only used for 2 minutes of warm up and a minute of cool down at either end of the routine.

For someone who is always busy or hates to exercise for long periods HIIT is a great tool, in a short period of time you can burn fat and improve your hearts recovery rate. There are studies which say that you burn calories for much longer after HIIT then after a longer steadier workout.

My weapon of choice for HIIT is a cross trainer because we have one at home, it means I can workout just after I get up and I get a better workout and burn more cals than I can on an exercise bike. I did start on a exercise bike though, the nice thing is, you can do HIIT with any form of exercise, in a couple of weeks I'll be away for a few days but I will be able to use HIIT with jogging in the absence of any other equipment, other people use swimming, if you can get you heart rate up with it you can use it to do HIIT.

I use HIIT in the morning on an empty stomach and don't eat for up to an hour afterwards, this should maximise fat burning potential. One piece of advice though, if you do this on an empty stomach then make sure you stay well hydrated.

Some other resources

http://bodyforlife.com/exercise/cardiotraining.asp

http://www.hiitsource.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training


HIIT isn't for everyone, it is intense and can induce exercise induced nausea, so be careful with it.